Towards “enzyme-like” zeolite designs to maximize the efficiency of catalysts by molecular recognition: Fine-tuning confinement and active site location

Abstract

In the present Perspective, we highlight relevant recent advances on the design of zeolite-based catalysts, where innovative rationalizations allow guiding towards molecular and atomic control to generate the precise metal active sites and maximize the stabilization of the key intermediates or reaction transition states, in a similar way to how enzymes do in nature and biological systems. Achieving this “enzymatic-like” specificity with zeolite-based catalysts has been one of the main goals of Prof. Corma and his group along his entire career, proposing novel and ground-breaking concepts in the field that have permitted generating excellent fundamental research advances as well as the final application of many of these advances in industrial processes.